While there are many different types of education data, policymakers and education leaders often place heavy emphasis on data from large-scale quantitative measures, such as annual state assessments. But data from these sources alone do not provide a complete picture of learning and are often not well suited to informing improvements at the local level.

This brief provides seven recommendations to help educators, administrators, policymakers, and others use a wider range of data to more effectively support equitable learning outcomes.